The utopia of the perfect man ” “

“Sharing life and faith without impediments”: that’s the title of the document of the German Episcopal Conference on the disabled and their families, published in the European Year of the Disabled. While even jurisprudence, in spite of important progress, seems at times inclined to call the birth of a disabled person injurious, “the bishops feel they have particular duties towards the disabled”. “This message – writes Cardinal Karl Lehmann, president of the Episcopal Conference, in his introduction to the document (12 March 2003) – also permits us to reject the concepts of the perfect man”. The text of the document in German is available on the website: http://dbk.de “The primary need is fostering greater awareness of the dignity of the human person in all the phases of life, of the fundamental rights to life and to physical integrity, of the respect for the right to self-determination and the personal rights of the disabled. We need to continue to develop, in particular, the ethical consciousness on which the creation of a community that promotes the life of the disabled and the non-disabled alike may be based”. A different understanding of human impairment. “Respect for the dignity of the disabled demands that their condition be not reduced to mere suffering. Nor must we ignore their joy in life and their abilities simply because they are presented in an unusual way”. The progress of genetic technology, “especially in the field of human genetics and biomedicine, is causing a social dynamic that is now aggravating the pressure on the disabled and their families”: “…not only does it hamper all the ways full of hope towards a respectful and caring reciprocity between disabled and non-disabled, but it contains a utopian conception that we thought had been long overcome: the dream of the perfect man and of a society freed from suffering”. Learning from the Christian tradition. “The biblical narratives of the meeting with and healing of the sick and the suffering show Christians the importance of choosing a culture of caring. This culture is open to the physical and psychological suffering of others. It also recognises the personal strengths and capacities of the disabled to fulfil their own life. It opens our eyes to the richness that often remains concealed by a one-way conception of compassion”. The disabled, witnesses of life and of faith. “The disabled enrich the Church and society. That is an obvious truth, but it needs to be expressly underlined… Each human being represents, with his utterly unique personal history, a source of enrichment for all those who approach him as a fellow human being, equal in everything to them, and who share with him the joys, the needs and the tribulations of life, even in the case in which his life may appear to himself or to others merely a pretence. Each human being is a gift of God. That goes both for the disabled and for the non-disabled. All possess an utterly identical, and inalienable dignity”. Sharing without impediments. “The bishops feel particularly responsible towards the disabled and their families… The sharing of life and of faith with the disabled requires a pastoral ministry focused on the promotion of life”; only in this way – says the document – can we help ensure that the cross that the disabled must bear “is not folly, but may increasingly become a blessing for man”. Conclusions. “We urge the communities, associations, organizations and charitable institutions of the Church to be, in daily life, places of community life ‘without impediments’ and to embody in a credible and salvific way the message of Christian hope”.